Trade Issues Effect PMI Data

On : August 31, 2018

Manufacturing outlook dropped to the lowest number in this 13-month period, matching the Index from last November. The main drivers for the slippage was slower growth in output and new business at the same time that export orders were falling. Soft exports appear to be a direct result of China – US trade concerns. They seem to have a direct effect on the level of optimism for the coming year among industrial managers. Source: Markit Economics

Tips for all Mobile Advertisers

On : August 30, 2018

As the advertising world moves inexorably toward more mobile, it is wise for practitioners to follow a few important tips…

Re: Levers of Fraud Protection

Use third-party safety sources: For viewability and invalid traffic (IVT) issues look at companies such as Moat, DoubleVerify or IAS. They offer pre- and post-bid media monitoring. In addition, look at companies like White Ops and TUNE, which delve beyond the simple ad network or publisher level.

Re: Levers of Delivery Control

Placement: Upper placements are typically used to generate awareness, middle placements are used more to generate product consideration while lower placement is used to drive conversions.

Distinctions: In-app advertising is not the same as mobile web advertising. Tracking them individually is critical. Consumers spend more time on their phones on a few apps as compared to a larger number of mobile websites accessed. Fraud issues are different, one verses the other, and tracking conversions are easier on mobile web. Source: MediaPost

Chinese Consumers: Buyers Now, Buyers in the Future

On : August 29, 2018

Forrester’s latest projections for the world’s e-commerce market in 2022 re-enforce our continuing interest in Chinese consumers. At present China’s e-commerce market has nudged past the US for the first time, but by 2022 these data suggest China’s e-commerce activity will be more than twice the size of the US and other Southeast Asian countries will fall well behind both China & the US. For Western countries, China is the place for growth in spite of trade difficulties. Source: Marketing Week

Digital Marketing in an AI Age

Generate more content without adding overhead is a clear winning strategy.

Produce department specific internal communication in a large organization, for maintaining connections with a broad outside audience and for keeping websites vital.

Develop targeted messages for multiple demographic slices; communication can be more personalized and therefore, more effective.

Deliver very personalized messages to drive up effectiveness rates in e-mail marketing campaigns.

Increase conversion rates on the web.

Source: ClickZ

China’s Inflation Rides Up Modestly

On : August 27, 2018

Pressure on prices coming from a variety of sources pushed the inflation rate back over 2% for the first time since March. The government’s target is 3%. Higher costs for food, transportation, communication, vehicle fuel, rent, heating fuel, utilities, education, culture, recreation, clothing, household goods and services all played a role in the rise. Sources: Trading Economics; National Bureau of Statistics, China

China’s Mobile Subscribers Just Keep Coming

On : August 24, 2018

China now has one hundred million more mobile subscriptions than population, which is astounding given the population is 1.4 billion. Smart device subscriptions continue to grow at a solid pace, averaging 10.8 million new subscriptions per month over the last twelve months and more than 81 million new subscribers since the beginning of this year. From our point of view, the most important number is the 1.2 billion mobile devices that are advertising friendly. Sources: China Mobile, China Unicom, China Telecom

A Start-up to Sooth the Pain

On : August 23, 2018

Successful marketing is all about finding points of pain and offering relief. Chinese consumers have been feeling the pain resulting from a series of quality failures with locally produced health products particularly around infant health. Most recent was the distribution of faulty vaccinations, which followed last year’s baby formula problem. Other issues have been raised about the safety of beauty and health supplements. It’s enough to make consumers look elsewhere to relieve the pain.

Enter LemonBox, a response to the quality concerns of Chinese consumers. Three Chinese nationals, two of whom were educated in and have worked in the US, have started a subscription service company that sends a box of LemonBox branded vitamins that are sourced in the US. They are available in either monthly or three-monthly quantities.

In three weeks LemonBox recruited 700 customers with an average purchase basket of $45. A tiny business by any standard, but the instant response is a positive sign that the combination of East and West, which appears to quell real pain, could be a winner. Source: TechCrunch

Assorted Facts that favor In-App Advertising

On : August 22, 2018

From App Annie: Projected ad spending will increase by almost 180% in the five years between 2016 and 2021.

From IHS Research: Native ads command between an 18% and 200% higher CPM than a standard banner ad.

From Opera Mediaworks: Click through rates for apps are double those for web and produce 13.5 times the revenue.

From Ipsos: 78% of games app users and 82% of news app users access them every day.

From Ipsos: 46-47% of users report remembering more detail from ads seen on mobile tablet apps and mobile web while only 36% report the same for ads seen on PCs.

Source: eConsultancy

Under the Surface of the Global Economy

On : August 21, 2018

A couple weeks ago we made note of Google’s $550 million investment in Alibaba’s chief rival JD.com. This week we add a co-investment of $500 by JD.com and Walmart in Dada-JD Daojia, a Chinese online grocery delivery service that claims 20 million active monthly users. Walmart, which already owns a 12% stake in JD, now is the number two investor behind Chinese giant Tencent.

The new investment brings Walmart closer to JD as Western companies continue to insinuate themselves into the Chinese market. This is happening on both sides as Chinese companies slowly buy their way into Western companies. While the governments make trade noises heard around the world, the slow, tectonic movement of commerce goes on just beneath the surface. The economies of East and West inexorably knit together. Source: Yahoo Finance

Video is King for both Engagement & Revenue

On : August 20, 2018

A revealing study by Adcolony showed that in-app video ads that promise some kind of reward for viewing delivered the most effective user experience and monetary payback.

Re-enforcing a theme we have emphasized before, the study found that beyond video, ads that are well-integrated with an app’s overall user experience, are of short duration and are highly engaging produce the most success. By contrast, auto-play ads were least favorable.

By applying demographic, behavioral and geo data to messages marketers can up the engagement for any of these breakouts.

One further insight: Mobile video accounted for 31% of revenue, display 20% and native 5%. Our question: where does the other 44% of revenue come from? Source: eConstultancy